


You Caught My Attention, You Were Looking At Me First

by flowercrownmikey



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Freshman! Harry, High School AU, M/M, footballer! louis, larry stylinson - Freeform, practical joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowercrownmikey/pseuds/flowercrownmikey
Summary: They're looking for a victim. A poor, helpless, freshman victim to continue the tradition that Louis himself had fallen victim to the previous year.The hallways are bustling - lockers rattling, girls screaming because they haven't seen each other all summer, teachers just trying to get that final coffee kick before the dreaded first-period bell and most importantly, freshman, with maps and all."I got one," Niall snickers next to him. Zayn leans into them as Niall points out a small, badly dressed, curly haired boy frowning at a map in his hand.OR// Louis is tasked to scare a freshman and finds himself becoming more engrossed as the years go by. Harry just has a tiny crush. Fluffy High School AU.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 123





	You Caught My Attention, You Were Looking At Me First

**Author's Note:**

> Title: One Direction - Temporary Fix 
> 
> Hi! 
> 
> I haven't done fluff in so long, but this concept has been on my mind for a very long time.. 
> 
> Enjoy!! 
> 
> *ps// HAPPY 10 YEARS OF 1D!!!

They're looking for a victim. A poor, helpless, freshman victim to continue the tradition that Louis himself had fallen victim to the previous year. 

The hallways are bustling - lockers rattling, girls screaming because they haven't seen each other all summer, teachers just trying to get that final coffee kick before the dreaded first-period bell and most importantly, freshman, with maps and all. 

"I got one," Niall snickers next to him. Zayn leans into them as Niall points out a small, badly dressed, curly haired boy frowning at a map in his hand. 

Louis knows the poor freshman is only in the year below he is, but the boy looks like he shouldn't have been let out of elementary school. 

Niall gives Louis a little push in his direction. 

Louis groans but smiles nonetheless, lets his friends trail behind him as he starts walking towards this poor, unsuspecting boy. 

He realises said boy can't even work out how to open his locker, and feels the familiarity of being the same way a year ago flow through him warmly. Niall had been stood a few lockers over when Josh - a guy in the year above - had done this to Louis. It's how they became friends. It's why Louis is tasked in doing the exact same thing to someone else - to begin this ridiculous tradition Niall is sure will take off. 

He's always up for a laugh, if anything. 

"Hey, freshman," He greets as they're about to pass. Curly looks over to him with wide, unsuspecting eyes. "High five!" 

Louis watches his hand go up instinctively, and grins as he reaches out and begins pressing his fingers through Curly's tightly pressed ones, squeezing through until they're holding hands half in the air. 

"You're my boyfriend now," Louis tells him, pressing his lips together. "Love you." 

Curly's utterly horrified expression makes him giggle to himself all day. 

* 

Louis forgets all about it, goes about his life as any Sophomore usually would. It's months later, towards the end of the school year, that he see's that small, badly-dressed freshman again. He's walking past them at lunch with a friend of his, and looks to Louis with recognition as he passes, smiling as he quietly says, "Hello boyfriend." 

The table Louis is sat at with his mates goes into uproar about the whole thing as Curly walks away. 

The score appears to be even. 

*

On the first day on Junior year, Niall is tasked with the tradition, and as they're roaming the halls, looking for yet another poor unsuspecting victim, Louis spots Curly stood amongst some of his friends, with longer, curlier hair and a slightly better dress sense. 

He's almost a foot taller in height, and his baby fat appears to be very quickly disappearing. 

"Hello, boyfriend," he says breezily, as Louis and his friends are walking past. Louis stops and turns to look at him, grinning. 

"Hi, sweetheart," Louis replies, because he's nice and not because he's flirting, per say. "Haven't you gotten tall." 

Curly smiles shyly, blushing, dropping the easy going persona Louis is sure he was just putting on for him. He looks down to his feet and back up at Louis with a shy, crooked smile. 

"Louis!" Niall yells, as they continue walking. 

"See you around, Curly," Louis dismisses, turning to follow his friends. 

"Bye, Louis," he hears the boy say quietly, his friends beginning to tease him about something or other. 

Louis shakes his head, smiling to himself as he catches up and bumps shoulders with Zayn. Niall looks behind him and snorts, laughing as he pats Louis on the chest, having just been staring a red, embarrassed not-so-freshman boy in the face. 

Louis smacks his arm halfheartedly. 

"You know he's fifteen or summat, right?" Niall snorts, "Nonce." 

Louis immediately gets defensive, "I don't fancy him, you dickhead. Piss off." Niall gives him a look, "He just looks different." 

Zayn laughs but convinces Niall to let it go as he points out a freshman boy that looks like he needs his hand held and some teasing. Louis is convinced he'll be hearing more about this but tries to push it to the back of his mind. 

**

Harry Styles stands amongst his friends with blood rushing to his head, making him red and flustered, as Louis Tomlinson - _from the year above_ \- walks away from him. Liam, Sophia and Michael are making fun of him, teasing him for this massive crush he's developed on a boy out of his league. 

He's got blue eyes on his mind, and Sophia's laugh filling his ears, as he asks, "How do you think I can spend more time around him?" 

"Join the football team," Michael snorts, looking him up and down. Harry looks at his two left feet and uncoordinated body, sighing and leaning back onto the lockers. 

"Follow him to classes," Liam adds. 

"Perhaps we could find out where he lives and hang out in the garden?" 

Harry groans, "Stop bullying me." 

"Alright, alright," Liam eases, "We could watch his football games on Fridays?" 

"He wouldn't even know I was there." 

"We could watch it loud?" Michael smirks. Harry raises an eyebrow at him, but he elaborates no further. 

He's had this silly little idea in the back of his mind. A story of how he and Louis started dating - of a silly joke in the hall turned into this massive love affair that burns brighter than all the stars. He can see Louis' last name pushing out his own, replacing it in years to come. 

He imagines that one day Louis might just grabs him and push him against the lockers when he greets him, kissing him senseless. 

Sometimes he likes to think that Louis has had this embarrassing crush on him for the last year, too, but knows it's unlikely. 

"Does he even know your name?" Sophia asks. 

Harry whines at them all to leave him alone, because no, of course Louis doesn't know his name. They've not said more than two sentences to each other. 

**

"Go on Louis!" He hears another shout, and once again, turns to look at the bleachers, at Curly's friends screaming encouragement at him, and Curly himself trying to hide his head in his heads, not daring to look at him. 

Louis waves at them and hears them holler louder, standing and being completely ridiculous as Louis waits for the whistle so they can continue the match. He hears it, gets back into the zone, and continues being amused by Curly's outgoing friends. 

When he manages a score against the opposing team, all he can here is all of them whooping and hollering, Curly included this time. 

*

Friday's seem to bring Curly and his friends to the bleachers more often than not, and Louis finds himself waving over to them every week. One particular Friday, just after he's got won the winning goal and has adrenaline rushing through his veins, the team crowd him and he finds himself looking over to Curly who's screaming, stood up against the rails with his mates, creating absolute chaos and standing out against the other cheers from the crowd. 

He blames the adrenaline as he pulls off his shirt, watching Curly _stare,_ and his teammates follow suit. The losing team have pretty much left the pitch now, so Louis starts running towards the benches - towards Curly and his friends who have finally quietened down - and grabs a bottle of water. 

Curly is still staring, smiling at him softly, so Louis stares back as he drinks, and throws him a wink. 

A few of his teammates run over and tackle him down to the floor then, still hyped about the win, and Louis forgets the whole ordeal. 

**

"I think he may know you exist Haz," Michael snorts next to him. "Haven't popped a stiffy, have you?" 

Harry smacks him away and tries to cover his blushing face in his hands, leaning back against the rail. He has a grin glued to his face, and his friends will not stop teasing him about anything Louis Tomlinson does. 

Louis has already been swooped away after the goal, and the bleachers are quickly dispersing into the car park, but Harry doesn't know what to do with himself; doesn't want to let this moment float away. 

So he lets Liam rip it away instead, when he begins pulling him to the car park, moaning about his ridiculous crush and everything they have to do because of it. 

"It's not stupid," Harry mumbles, blushing, "Shut up." 

Liam laughs and continues pulling him until they get to Sophia's car, all climbing in to their respective seats. It's the pizza place, they're going to, a one-off they usually do when they all have money to spare and fancy staying out a while longer. 

"I've never known someone fancy a person this hard," Sophia muses as she drives, "And do absolutely nothing about it." 

"He still has no idea what your name is?" Michael adds. 

"The three of you are awful," Harry groans. 

"That's a no then," Michael sings quietly. 

"Is this what you're going to do? Obsess over him until he finishes senior year?" She gasps, adds, "Are you going to apply to the same colleges?" 

Liam and Michael laugh. Harry groans louder, kicks the back of Liam's chair. 

"He got one wink and I guarantee his wank bank is filled for about two years," Michael teases. Sophia pulls a face but laughs with Liam, glancing back at him in the mirror and sticking her tongue out. Harry pouts at her. 

"Is it cause he's a football player?" 

"Nah, it's obviously because he was the first person to speak to Harry in freshman year." Liam snorts, "Did you feel sparks when he touched your hand, is that it?" 

Finally, _finally_ , they pull into the car park of the pizza place. Harry wishes death upon them all as he gets out of the car and starts storming towards the entrance. They're not far behind him, teasing and calling his name playfully, half-jogging to keep up with him. 

Harry almost falls through the front door, whining as his friends laugh at that too. 

He turns around and is almost ready for death to swoop him up when he see's Louis and his friends Niall and Zayn sat at a table, looking at them. Zayn and Niall look away, continuing their conversation, but Louis gives him a soft smile. 

Harry can't help the red creeping up his neck as he smiles back. 

"Oh my God," he hears Michael cackle behind him. 

He's snapped out of it then, tumbling forward to get to the counter, order food and get out of there as fast as possible. He knows when Liam and Sophia see Louis as they don't stop smirking and whispering to each other. 

He truly has the most awful friends. 

Once they've ordered, he mindlessly follows Sophia to a table almost directly opposite the one Louis is sat at, finds himself placed so he has a perfect view of his forbidden crush and wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole. 

When he looks up, Louis is already looking at him. He looks away quickly, tries to engage in the conversation his friends are having, but honestly doesn't know what to do with himself. 

He looks up only once more, and Louis is still looking at him, this time smiling. Harry smiles back, and when Louis winks again, he feels as if his legs become jello, and he can do nothing but wink back and try to act like he has even an ounce of confidence. 

Winking seems to become quite the occurrence consequently. 

**

The first day of Louis' senior year, he's scouting Curly out as they roam the halls. He can't help himself. It's been six weeks and he's found himself wishing he could hear that voice yelling for him to score on a Friday night - wishing he could stare at that jawline in the evening from across the pizza place. Wishing he had a small 'hey boyfriend' every time he walked past. 

He won't admit it's a crush. Not yet. 

(It is, he should, and soon, he probably will.)

It's Zayn's turn this year. He's not happy about finding a freshman to scare the shit out of, especially since they're much older now, but Niall is absolutely certain that this tradition must live on for their final year. 

Niall is adamant on Louis helping pick this time, but all Louis is doing is looking for that familiar curly hair, that pretty, sharp jaw line and those glassy green eyes. He's even looking forward to the terrible dress sense, too. 

Another torturous five minutes goes by, and finally, Niall has found someone. But Louis' focus is elsewhere, he's looking at Curly and his friends stood at their lockers. Curly, who's grown another foot in height, got curlier hair, and is wearing skin tight jeans and a loose white t-shirt.

Louis suddenly feels under-dressed in his trackies. 

"Oh, Jesus," falls out of his mouth. He swallows the excess liquid, scans him up and down again, and is only drawn away when Zayn nudges him. His best mate is smirking, raising an eyebrow. 

"Problem?" Zayn asks, glancing over to Curly before looking back to him. 

Louis clears his throat, "Did you ever find out his name?" 

Zayn's smile widens. 

"It's Harry," Niall inputs. "Harry Styles." 

"Right," Louis swallows. "Let's go that way, hm?" 

They both laugh, but he's beyond caring. Doesn't care that Zayn hasn't held some freshman's hand, or that Niall is groaning, or that they're both definitely quietly laughing at him, just wants to walk past Harry Styles and see if he can get those little words out of him. 

As they get closer he can see how sharp his face has gotten, can see how utterly fit he's become, and Louis can do nothing but let his jaw hit the floor. He laughs at one of his friends suddenly, a familiar sound that doesn't quite match his face anymore. 

His teeth are still white and straight and now that lovely smile is directed right at Louis as they're about to pass. His dimples make Louis' confidence falter. 

"Hello, boyfriend," his voice is deeper, richer, and Louis feels like he's about to fall onto his knees in front of him. Harry Styles tilts his head, smile growing, and sticks out a bit of his tongue. 

"Hi, sweetheart," he finally manages to breath out. At least Curly still blushes - he still has some sort of effect on him, if nothing else. 

"Haven't I gotten tall?" Harry guesses. 

Louis hums, and can't help when his eyes drop and drag back up his body, sparkling. In his peripherals, one of Harry's friends looks between them with wide, shocked eyes. 

Louis reaches out before he changes his mind, and loops one of Harry's curls around his finger, pulling slightly. He hums again, this time satisfied, and turns around to walk away. Sweating. 

They at least get out of ear-shot before Niall starts cackling. 

"Do _not_ call me a pedo," Louis snaps. 

"I didn't say a fuckin word, Lou," he snorts. "Want me to go back there and ask him for his number, or...?" 

"Piss off," he mutters. 

"Little freshman's got you all worked up again," Zayn murmurs, "My my, doesn't he have an effect on you, hm?" 

Louis glares at him. 

**

"Told you he'd like the outfit," Sophia cackles, "Man I wish he would've stayed for this reaction." 

Harry chugs his water and tries to make the heat leave his face - his body - his entire being. Louis tugging on his hair is probably the highlight of his school life. 

"Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure he has a thing for you too. Incredible." 

"No," Harry muffles, nudging Michael's shoulder. 

"I'm like, three thousand percent sure, Haz." 

"I bet you my savings account that Tomlinson waited for you to be legal," Liam says suddenly turning to them all with a grin. "I'd bet my life." 

"Shut up," Harry mumbles, still trying to get the blush off his face, but smiling nonetheless. 

"Oh my God, he waited for you to be legal," Michael suddenly realises, laughing. "I can't cope." 

**

Later that day Louis finds himself looking out for Harry whenever he walks through the halls, no matter what he's doing. When he walks into the cafeteria for lunch early, he finally spots the curly hair; he's on a table by himself with an open book in his hand. 

Louis begins walking over despite having nothing to say. 

When he reaches Harry's lone table, he opts for pushing his hands into Harry's hair and leaning his chin on the boys head. 

"Hi," he murmurs. Harry's head tilt's up so he has to pick up his chin again, and there's already blood rushing to his cheeks, but a smile on his face. Louis continues playing with his hair, smiling back at him. "How's your day going, Harry?" 

"Um," he stutters, clears his throat. Louis can't get over how soft his hair is. "It's good? Is yours - good, I mean..." 

"Uh huh," Louis nods. "Is your neck hurting like this?" 

"Not at all," he answers quickly. Louis smiles and leans over further, dropping his chin onto Harry's shoulder. "Aren't you having lunch?" 

Louis smiles, "I couldn't just leave you sitting here all alone, could I?" He asks, glancing down at Harry's eyes, and ever so briefly, his lips. Harry's smile drops a little, and his head tilts up further, like he's asking for it. Louis' about to give in to it too, tightens his fingers in Harry's curls, and knocks their noses together before a loud noise against the table makes him jolt up. 

Harry's green haired friend looks up at him, his eyes widen and he squeaks out a small, "Sorry," directed to Harry. 

Louis pulls himself up, squeezes Harry's shoulder, getting a small smile in return as he walks to finally get his lunch. Zayn is stood against a wall, grinning from ear to ear at him, and joins him as he goes. 

He says nothing, though, so at least Louis has that. 

*

The next day, Zayn and Niall seem to be aware he's looking for Harry before he even is, and point him out once he walks through the school gates and into the building. Zayn stubs out his cigarette and gestures for them to follow, and Louis loves his friends a lot. 

He's worn a better outfit today, feels much more appropriately dressed to knock someone's socks off, and finds himself almost bouncing towards Harry and his friends. 

He has coffee running through his veins and his hands are itching to touch Harry in some way again. 

It's almost fate when Harry absentmindedly lifts his arms a little as they pass, and Louis sees the opportunity clearly, quickly sliding his hand down Harry's wrist and linking their fingers. Zayn and Niall continue walking this time, and despite the smiles on their faces, even Harry's friends look away from them. 

"You're my boyfriend now," Louis tells him, still gripping onto his hand. Harry's pink cheeks urge him on, "If that's alright with you, this time." 

"Yeah," Harry says quietly. 

"Alright then," Louis gives him a dazzling smile, and puts his free hand into Harry's curls, pulling his face a little closer, telling him that they could kiss, if he wanted to. Without interruption this time. Harry takes the bait and closes the space between them, cradling his cheek and joining their lips softly. Louis gently squeezes the hair in his hand, and Harry slips him tongue. 

There are cheers from Harry's friends nearby, and one quiet voice he recognises to be Zayn, mumbling, "Alright Lou, know you fancy him but fucking hell, we're at school." 

He pulls away first, stroking the side of his face, squeezing his hand. 

Niall's tradition doesn't seem so bad anymore. 

In fact, he thinks they should pass it on. 


End file.
